Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
  • G03F1/68—Preparation processes not covered by groups G03F1/20 - G03F1/50
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
  • B41M7/0027—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock using protective coatings or layers by lamination or by fusion of the coatings or layers
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
  • G03G7/00—Selection of materials for use in image-receiving members, i.e. for reversal by physical contact; Manufacture thereof
  • G03G7/0006—Cover layers for image-receiving members; Strippable coversheets
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
  • G03G8/00—Layers covering the final reproduction, e.g. for protecting, for writing thereon
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/24—Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24802—Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24851—Intermediate layer is discontinuous or differential
  • Y10T428/24868—Translucent outer layer
  • Y10T428/24884—Translucent layer comprises natural oil, wax, resin, gum, glue, gelatin
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/31504—Composite [nonstructural laminate]
  • Y10T428/31652—Of asbestos
  • Y10T428/31663—As siloxane, silicone or silane

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a graphic arts film or a process film. More particularly, it is concerned with a graphic arts film or a process film with toner image formed on a light-transmitting base sheet having a toner-adhesive and ink-repellant, transparent coating layer formed thereon.
• those conventional films are not always free from problem.
• the cost of silver has remarkably increased and is greatly affecting the manufacturing cost of the film.
• the image density may lower in retouching (dot-etching) or in the case of first preparing a negative film from a positive film and further preparing a positive film using the negative film prepared.
• Other problems involve the presence of pin-holes, impossibility of a perfect daylight processing, and a long time required for development, fixing and drying.
• the diazo film In the case of the diazo film, it is advantageous in point of cost, but in point of performance it involves inconveniences such as an insufficient optical density and inapplicableness of retouching of imaginary part by dot-etching or the like, and therefore its application range is limited. Furthermore, in the case of the coated film comprising a photopolymerizable material and a colored pigment, its full-scale practical application involves problems such as the difficulty of retouching of imaginary part and an insufficient shelf life of the film.
• the present invention provides an imaged film free from the above-mentioned problems.
• the present invention relates to a graphic arts film comprising a light-transmitting base sheet, a toner-adhesive and ink-repellent, transparent coating layer formed on the base sheet, a toner bonded imagewise onto the transparent coating layer, and an ink layer formed selectively on only the toner image area, as well as a method of preparing a graphic arts film which method comprises forming a toner-adhesive and ink-repellent, transparent coating layer on a light-transmitting base sheet, bonding a toner imagewise onto the transparent coating layer, and applying ink onto the imaged sheet to thereby selectively enhance the optical density of the toner image area formed on the transparent coating layer.
• the present invention is concerned with a graphic arts film obtained by inking a light-transmitting base sheet to thereby selectively enhance the optical density of a toner image area formed thereon.
• the light-transmitting base sheet is, for example, a light-transmitting, transparent base sheet and having a light transmissivity not less than 50%, preferably not less than 70%.
• it comprises a high polymer film or sheet, which may be a single layer or a composite.
• polymer for the light-transmitting base sheet there may be used, for example, polyester, polyamide, crystalline polyolefin, polystyrene, ionomer, polycarbonate, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, polyvinyl chloride, cellulose, acetylcellulose, polyimide, and copolymer thereof. These film bases may be suitably coated with other resin, metal or compound.
• the light-transmitting base sheet there may be employed, in addition to a glass-like sheet, a resin-soaked and hardened, organic or inorganic cloth or paper sheet, or a sheet obtained by flattening the polymer under high pressure. Particularly, polyester, polyamide, polyolefin and cellulose films are preferred.
• the light-transmitting base sheet itself may have a multi-layer structure, or it may have a light sensitive property as function.
• an electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising laminated ohmic layer and photosensitive layer having photo-conductivity, or a photosensitive (photo-setting, photo-degrading, photo-conductive) film itself.
• the transparent coating layer to be applied onto the light-transmitting base sheet there may be used anything if only it can form a toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating.
• the coating layer having such a property elastomeric silicone resins are preferably used. Particularly preferred are elastomeric silicone resins containing at least one member bonded in the molecule thereof selected from O, N, S, P elements, Na, K, Zn, Fe, Ti, Zr, various other metal elements, aromatic rings having not more than 18 carbon atoms and heterocyclic rings having not more than 18 carbon atoms, other than --Si--O-- bond inherent to the starting material.
• elastomeric silicone resins are employable as the coating layer used in the invention, for example:
• a silicone resin comprising a mixture of (A) an organopolysiloxane, (B) an alkoxy silane represented by the formula R 4-a-b R' a Si(OR") b wherein R is an organic group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms which contains a member selected from the group consisting of an olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbon group, an aromatic hydrocarbon group and a polar group which does not react with the OR" at room temperature, R' is an alkyl or alicyclic group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, OR" is an alkoxy group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, a is 0 or 1, b is 2 or 3, and a+b is at most 3, and (C) a titanium or a zirconium compound represented by the formula (R 1 O)(R 2 O) (R 3 O)(R 4 O)M wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 are each an organic group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms
• a silicone resin consisting mainly of a reaction product obtained by reacting, in the presence of a catalyst, a polymer having at least two hydroxyl groups per molecule with a terminal hydroxyl group-containing organopolysiloxane, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,905 (the corresponding Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 163101/1979);
• compositions having only a small affinity for toner are not suitable to the present invention.
• silicone resins which are extremely superior in ink repellency but extremely poor in toner adhesiveness are not preferable in the present invention.
• the coating layer used in the present invention it is important for the coating layer used in the present invention to have sufficient durability and manufacturing reproducibility, and in this sense, the coating layer comprising the composition (1) among the foregoing compositions is preferable because it is superior in toner adhesiveness, durability and manufacturing reproducibility. The finer the image, the more important becomes the toner adhesiveness. Therefore, a high toner adhesiveness is desired in order to obtain an image of high resolution.
• ink-repellent silicone resins repel ink and keep it off, and so their capability of bonding materials is very low.
• silicone resins exhibit a toner adhesiveness
• the coating layer be not so sensitive to the atmospheric moisture and oxygen or to the change in curing temperature, and be difficult to deteriorate in its toner adhesiveness and ink repellency with the lapse of time and difficult to be flawed on its surface.
• the graphic arts film of the present invention is obtained by forming a toner image by electrophotography on the surface of a light-transmitting base sheet having a toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating layer, then fixing the toner and thereafter applying ink to the film.
• the ink adheres selectively to only the image area without its adhesion to non-image area because of ink repellency of the latter, and the optical density of only the image area can thereby be enhanced.
• the film of the present invention is entirely different from conventional litho films in that it is provided with the toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating layer.
• the light-transmitting base sheet having a toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating layer is prepared by dissolving or uniformly dispersing, for example, any of the foregoing coating layer compositions in an organic solvent, then applying the resulting solution or dispersion onto a light-transmitting base sheet by using a known application method, followed by drying.
• a known application method there may be adopted, for example, the slit die coating method, the roll coating method or the spray coating method.
• the composition After application onto the base sheet, the composition is dried to remove solvent and, if required, subjected to a further heat treatment, whereby there is obtained the coated film.
• the heat treatment temperature ranges, for example, from 80° to 200° C. and preferably 100° to 180° C., and the treatment time may be chosen suitably according to the base material used.
• the application thickness of the composition ranges from 0.1 to 100 ⁇ , preferably 0.3 to 10 ⁇ , in terms of thickness after drying.
• the light-transmitting base sheet may be treated beforehand with an adhesive, or surface-treated, for example, its surface may be rendered uneven physically finely, in order to enhance its adhesion to the coating layer.
• a toner image is formed on the surface of the so-prepared coated film.
• the image is formed through the steps of corona charge, image exposure and toner development (the so-called CPC system) directly in known manner or by using a commercially available machine.
• CPC system corona charge, image exposure and toner development
• a transferred image is formed by means of an electrophotographic copying machine or plate making machine according to the PPC system, and the toner image is fixed in known manner, for example, by the application of heat or pressure.
• the fixing by heat is carried out at a temperature in the range of 50° to 300° C.
• the toner there may be used positive- or negative-charging, wet or dry fine particles according to the electric charge on the photo-conductive layer.
• the toner may be colored by known coloring matters, including pigments and dyes, but it may be substantially colorless.
• the particle size of toner used is decided according to the required quality of image and the image accuracy of a photosensitive substrate. Wet toner is preferable to dry toner because it average particle size is smaller and thus suitable for an image of high resolution. Particularly preferred is a toner having an average particle size not larger than 5 microns.
• resins for toner include modified epoxy resins and acrylic copolymer resins which easily form a dispersion in a non-aqueous solvent.
• epoxy resins there may be used, for example, the reaction product of bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin, and those having properties different from bisphenol A such as one obtained by substituting bisphenol A by novolak and those obtained by introducing epoxy groups by using peracetic acid to unsaturated groups of unsaturated compounds such as cyclopentadiene and cyclohexene derivatives, polybutadiene and drying oils.
• Particularly preferred are those obtained by reaction of bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin and having a molecular weight ranging from about 360 to 8,000, an average degree of polymerization not greater than about 20 and an epoxy equivalent ranging from 400 to 4,000.
• organodicarboxylic acids having not more than 20 carbon atoms and dialcohols having not more than 20 carbon atoms.
• acrylic resin copolymers are graft or block copolymers containing in the molecule a lipophilic long chain group for facilitating the dispersion in a non-aqueous solvent, particularly in a hydrocarbon solvent with low polarity. More specifically, copolymers of acrylic or methacrylic acid esters with unsaturated vinyl monomers such as styrene, vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride, are used preferably.
• the bonding strength of toner to the coating layer be not lower than 20 g/cm.
• This bonding strength may be measured in the following manner. First, a toner powder or a dispersion of toner particles in a solvent is applied uniformly onto the coated film used in the present invention which has an ink-repellent layer formed on a base sheet, then dried and fixed, thereafter a paper is sticked onto the surface of the fixed toner by using an adhesive and a sample 1 cm wide is prepared, which is peeled off by means of a tension tester to determine the bonding strength.
• Retouching of toner image may be made before fixing of the toner, but for a more complete retouching, it is performed after fixing of the toner.
• Toner contamination and unnecessary image portions can be removed easily in known manner, for example, by blow-inhalation of air, adsorption by a sticky material, or wiping off by using a solvent-absorbed cotton-like material.
• Retouching of the toner image by dot-etching is performed by using a toner-dissolving or -swelling solvent.
• Solvents which dissolve toner to a moderate extent are preferred, and solvents employable for dot-etching the toner image may be used alone or as a mixture, for example, acetone alone or combinations thereof with water, butanol, methyl cellosolve, etc., depending on the resin which constitutes the toner.
• the toner image after retouching exhibits thinning of lines, reduction in thickness of the toner layer and decrease in its density because of dissolving-out of toner. This phenomenon has heretofore been considered to be a serious problem difficult to be solved, but in the present invention it causes no problem.
• this drawback can be overcome by the application of ink. That is, after removing the retouching solvent thoroughly from the retouched film, ink is applied to the film to enhance the optical density of the toner image area.
• the application of ink is effected by transferring ink which has been kneaded by ink roller onto inking roller and feeding the ink therefrom onto the surface of the film with toner image formed thereon.
• the inking roller is brought into rotating contact, at least once and usually two to thirty times or so, with the imaged film surface so that the film surface may fully repel the ink at its non-image area and allow adhesion thereto of the ink sufficiently at its image area.
• This inking operation may be performed by using a manual roller.
• the optical density of the toner image area is improved to not less than 2.5, preferably 3 to 4.
• the adhesion of ink unevenness of the toner image is flattened, and pin-holes, if any, are filled with ink and so disappear.
• the ink layer thus has an average thickness in the range of 0.2 to 10 microns.
• the ink to be used may be chosen suitably from among commercially available inks, but those which are easily repelled by the coating layer used in the present invention, are preferred. There may be used not only inks which dry in the air, but also those which solidify by dry heat through ultraviolet ray, infrared ray or a mere heat. Inks for planographic printing and those for relief printing both are employable, but inks designed for dry planographic printing are preferred. Inks for offset printing requiring fountain solution include those which are employable in the present invention and whose ink repellency may be improved by the addition thereto of a small amount of silicone oil. Inks which may be used in the present invention preferably have a viscosity not lower than 20 poise at room temperature.
• the film having the toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating layer formed thereon which serves as a graphic arts film or an optical mask may have a transparent photosensitive layer having photo-conductivity formed under the coating layer, or it may be free from photosensitivity and toner image may be formed thereon by transferring using an electrophotographic copier.
• the top layer is an electric insulating layer, and the formation of image may be performed by a known method involving, for example, a primary charging by corona discharge, a subsequent or simultaneous image exposure, and a subsequent secondary charging opposite to the primary charging and development.
• the photo-conductive layer there may be used a layer comprising a conductive substrate and a crystalline CdS thinner than 1 micron, preferably from 0.2 to 0.8 micron, deposited thereon by Radio Frequency sputtering (this transparent sheet is what is called "KC film”); an organic photo-semiconductor film such as a deposited layer of selenium or a film formed of polyvinylcarbazole or a derivative thereof; or a suitable combined laminate thereof.
• KC film this transparent sheet is what is called "KC film”
• an organic photo-semiconductor film such as a deposited layer of selenium or a film formed of polyvinylcarbazole or a derivative thereof; or a suitable combined laminate thereof.
• the direct formation of toner image on the coated film having the photo-conductive layer is considered to provide a highly accurate image, but even the transferring method using an electrophotographic copier can afford an image of extremely high quality by selecting a photosensitive substrate of high accuracy for the formation of image.
• "KC plate” developed by Coulter Systems Co., invented by Manfred R. Kuehnle and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,339, has a very high resolution and permits the formation of transferred image to an extent comparable to a silver salt litho film.
• the "KC plate” consists of a conductive substrate and a coating thinner than 1 micron, preferably from 0.2 to 0.8 micron, formed thereon from fine and uniform anisotropic single crystals.
• the most preferable electrophoto-conductive layer is a coating on an ohmic layer in which extremely pure CdS single crystals formed almost completely stoichiometrically are arranged regularly.
• the CdS single crystal is a crystal of hexagonal system about 3,500 ⁇ thick and about 700 ⁇ wide, with the crystallographic axis being vertical to the plate surface and regularly and uniformly arranged.
• wet toners there are various sizes of wet toners, including those which, as the case may be, cannot make the most of the accuracy of a photosensitive substrate. Even those having an average particle size of 0.1 micron or less are employable, which is comparable to or even smaller than silver halide particles in silver salt films. In case the size of toner does not define the image accuracy, the resolution of a photosensitive substrate or that of lenses defines it.
• the present invention relates to a litho film obtained by forming a highly toner-adhesive and ink-repellent coating layer on a light-transmitting base sheet, then forming a toner image thereon by, for example, electrophotography, thereafter fixing the toner image and subsequently applying ink to the coating layer, allowing the ink to adhere selectively to the toner image area, thereby improving the image density.
• a graphic arts film free from defects such as pin-holes and having an enhanced optical density can be produced extremely simply and that inexpensively.
• An ink-repellent and toner-adhesive silicone coating layer was formed on a polyethylene terephthalate base film, and then a toner image was formed on the coated film.
• a polyethylene terephthalate film (“Lumirror” T type, 100 ⁇ , a product of Toray Industries, Inc.) was used as a base sheet, onto which was applied a silicone solution to prepare a coated film.
• the silicone solution was of the following composition:
• Dimethyl polysiloxane (a product of Toray Silicone Co., containing hydroxyl groups at both ends, having an average molecular weight of 22,000): 100 parts
• This coating solution was applied onto the polyethylene terephthalate film by means of a bar-coater so as to give a thickness after drying and curing of 3.0 micron, then "Iso Par E” was removed by drying at room temperature, followed by further curing at 160° C. for 5 minutes, to obtain a unimaged coated film.
• Electrophotographic copiers “Xerox 3207” and “Canon NP-8” were used for the formation of dry image and of wet image, respectively. Both copying machines are of a system (PPC) involving formation of a toner image on a photosensitive drum and subsequent transferring of the toner image.
• PPC system
• the image area on the sheet coming out of the aforesaid copying machines is not always heat-fixed to a satisfactory extent. Therefore, the toner image was further subjected to heat fixing at 160° C. for 1 minute. Then, retouching and dot etching were applied to unnecessary image portions, shadows and background contamination by using a mixed acetone-ethanol solvent.
• the optical density of the toner image after retouching was enhanced by applying ink to the film.
• the film was attached to a printing machine "A. B. Dick 309" (a product of A. B. Dick Co.) and then a commercially available ink “Schmidt H” (a product of Schmidt Printing Ink Co.) was applied to the toner image area 20 times at a revolution rate of 100 rpm (a form roller with ink contacted the image surface 20 times).
• the film was removed from the printing machine and then heated in an oven to dry the ink.
• the image area of the film of the present invention thus prepared showed the following values of optical densities before and after application of the ink.
• Fine pin-holes proved to disappear by being filled and coated with the ink, although this depends on the hardness of ink.
• the non-image area exhibited a sufficient ink-repellency, and background contamination caused by ink was not observed.
• composition was applied onto the same polyethylene terephthalate film "Lumirror", then dried and cured to obtain a film having a coating layer formed thereon:
• a conductive agent was applied to the back of the film thus obtained to adjust the electric resistance to 10 4 ⁇ 10 9 ⁇ cm, and then the film was attached to an electrostatic transfer type copier "Minolta EG-7" to form a toner image thereon.
• the toner was a wet toner using an acrylic copolymer with vinyl monomer designed to enhance its adhesion to the coated surface of the film.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Photosensitive Polymer And Photoresist Processing (AREA)
• Developing Agents For Electrophotography (AREA)
• Preparing Plates And Mask In Photomechanical Process (AREA)
• Photoreceptors In Electrophotography (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (4)

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Citations (4)

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• 1981
  • 1981-10-14 JP JP56162696A patent/JPS5863937A/ja active Pending
• 1982
  • 1982-10-12 US US06/433,668 patent/US4500587A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1982-10-13 CA CA000413357A patent/CA1191377A/en not_active Expired
  • 1982-10-14 DE DE8282305470T patent/DE3272345D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1982-10-14 EP EP82305470A patent/EP0077220B1/de not_active Expired

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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